We're getting married!

Nikki and Mike first met when they were in the same 1st grade class at South Abington Elementary School. Mike claims that he either had a crush on Nikki or some other tall blonde girl, but Nikki likes to think it was her all along! Who would've thought these two elementary school kids would be getting married?!

As fate would have it, Mike and Nikki were assigned seats near each other in study hall sophomore year of high school. Mike would look for any excuse to interrupt Nikki from her work. After some ~casual~ texting and hanging out with mutual friends, Mike built up the courage to ask Nikki out on an official date the following summer. They saw a movie at a local theater, and he sealed the deal by asking her to be his girlfriend. The rest is history!

After graduating high school, Nikki and Mike both went to the University of Delaware (despite being set on not going to the same college!). They loved campus life and made lifelong friends together (shout out to our Cleveland & Carroll Court crew!). After college, Nikki and Mike dated "long" distance for 3 years while Mike worked in engineering and Nikki completed her master's degree and fellowship. They enjoyed spending time together when possible and loved traveling within and outside the country.

After dating for 9 years, I realized it would be hard to sneak anything by Nikki, let alone plan an elaborate date to propose. While trying to figure out how to surprise Nikki with a proposal, the perfect opportunity presented itself. Nikki and I were invited to visit her family in upstate New York in late September, so I summoned the help of our moms and her cousin Jenna to help make it happen. We spent the afternoon with her family and then Nikki and the girls went for a sunset hike while her cousin's husband and I went "scouting out local hunting spots." We surprised them at the top of the mountain, and before you know it I was on one knee asking her to marry me. Her family was there to capture pictures, and it's a moment we will never forget.